Are Juuling and Vaping a Safe Alternative to Smoking?

By now, there’s no chance you haven’t heard about e-cigs. Electronic cigarettes have become a reality nowadays, even after many predicted they’ll fail. The first commercial e-cig debuted in China in 2003, and today, millions of people around the world use it.

One of the most successful e-cigarettes today is Juul. The vaping device has become an instant hit with consumers as it packages nicotine salts from leaf tobacco into one-time cartridges. It’s safe to say that Juul is as closest to real tobacco as it comes. Regarding its safety, however, opinions have been divided. Multiple investigations by the FDA and concern by the public regarding juuling has inspired a heated debate in the medical community, making this e-cigarette highly controversial.

What Do Studies Say?

Science hasn’t been so easy on Juul. While most consumers won’t agree with it, studies have shown that juuling (and vaping in general) is associated with a higher risk of heart disease and impaired brain development. The FDA, which controls the advertising, promotions, and sales of e-cigarettes, released new guidelines for marketing and promotion of said products in 2018. Just like regular cigarettes, e-cigs are now obligated to issue a health warning on the package.

This isn’t by chance – there have been many recent studies linking Juul and e-cigs to a variety of serious disorders, making them incredible risky to our overall health.

As we already mentioned, health professionals aren’t sure if Juul or e-cigs actually offer more benefits than cigarettes. Evidence suggest that they aren’t as harmful as we previously though – in fact, they can be even more harmful than tobacco.

Why Is Juuling so Popular?

The surge in market share of the Juul e-cig is most likely fueled by the fact that they’re easy to use and the encouragement made by authorities. Vaping and juuling are considered a safer alternative to smoking and marketed as such. This, of course, isn’t true.

Although Juuls are used by smokers as a way to quit and switching to them is recommended by the authorities, there’s no evidence which suggests this – it’s just a marketing trick. Another reason that goes in their favor is the fact that there are appealing flavors to smoke including mango, banana, chocolate, and many more.

Due to this, Juuling has surged in popularity in recent years, with sales going sky-high. However, recent evidence has suggest a link between vaping and juuling and serious health disorders, which puts the use of Juul and e-cigs in question.

The Biggest Dangers of Juuling

Raises the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Due to the high content of nicotine, e-cigarettes are just as harmful as the real thing. Nicotine can raise your heart rate and blood pressure, resulting in higher risk of cardiovascular diseases. A recent study found that vaping and juuling can raise the risk of narrow arteries by 30% and stiffen the aorta, which spells heart disease and stroke.

Even the flavors have been linked to heart disease. This year alone, two studies have found a link between e-cig liquids and their harmful effect on our blood vessels, making Juul and other e-cigarettes not so healthy as advertised.

Just as Addictive as Cigarettes

Juuls are highly popular among the youth, even after the FDA banned the sale to persons under the age of 18. From 2018, retailers are responsible to ask a photo ID of any person under 27 to purchase any tobacco product, including Juul. Studies have found that e-cigs are just as addictive as the real thing. So, you’re just as likely to become a long-term user as a cigarette smoker. And, we all know how harmful long-term smoking is to our health.

Damages the Lungs

Most people think that vaping isn’t harmful for our lungs and we can’t blame them. After all, the media does a pretty good job advertising Juul e-cigs as a safer alternative. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. When combined with vape fluid, the sweet flavors many teenagers love create harmful chemicals which can destroy our lungs.

One study showed that these chemicals can lodge themselves in our lungs and raise inflammation. Inflammation, as you most likely know, is the basis for a variety of health problems, which means that e-cigs can damage the lungs and raise the risk of lung cancer.

So, no, vaping isn’t a safe alternative. As a matter of fact, those sweet flavors may be even more harmful for your lungs since we don’t really know how many destructive chemicals they contain.

Damages the DNA

According to the latest studies, vaping and Juuling have the ability to change our DNA. This can only mean one thing – higher risk of cancer. One study tested the saliva of people before and 15 minutes after vaping. The results showed a high presence of dangerous chemicals such as formaldehyde and altered DNA.

So, if you switched to e-cigs as a means to lower the risk of cancer, you’ve made the wrong choice.